Dwayne Bailey was born in Donaldsonville, La., where he still resides. Donaldsonville is located in Ascension Parish, part of the heavily industrialized so-called river parishes through which the Mississippi River runs between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Bailey earned a bachelor's in broadcast journalism from Southern University in Baton Rouge.

He lists his current job as a process team leader and operator for Shell Motiva Inc. His job history includes a stint as a regional prevention coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

He is married and has two sons.

Dwayne Bailey ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana Legislature in 2011, losing in a runoff to state Rep. Ed Price.

He didn't let the loss diminish his political hopes. In 2012, he decided to take on first-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond.

Both candidates are African-Americans running in Louisiana's only predominantly black congressional district. The demographics and geography appear to favor Richmond, however.

After the 2010 census the boundaries of the New Orleans-based district were redrawn to include territory stretching westward, including the industrialized so-called river parishes and parts of the Baton Rouge metro area. Though Bailey was raised in the river parish area, the bulk of the district's population remains in the New Orleans and Jefferson parishes, where Richmond is well known.

Another contributing factor in the race is Bailey's switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. He stresses his commitment to low taxes, gun rights and his Christian faith, points that might play well in his part of the district, even though it has the heaviest Democratic registration of any congressional district in the state with 66 percent.

Richmond is considered the favorite in the race, owing to the advantages of incumbency, fundraising, name recognition and his geographical base in metro New Orleans.